If your ever traveling across the country side you may have the occasion to see a home built into the side of a mountain or someone parked on top of their house, it may seem odd at first but the truth is these Earth Shelters are among the most energy efficient dwellings in the world.
There are many common misconceptions about Earth Shelters or Underground homes. One misconception being that the homes are dark and claustrophobic. The truth is that a well built home will have an open ended face which would has southern exposure. A dome style would have reflective walls which splash natural lighting to every part of the home. They often include skylights which supplements the the internal light and is referred to as co-linear.
Another misconception is that interior air quality is poor due to the lack of ventilation. The implementation of Air exchange systems will demystify this myth and in fact the quality of air is usually significantly better than that of a conventional building.
Many people also believe that an earth sheltered home is cold. If you’ve ever lived in a home with a basement, then you would know that it stays warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. The earth acts as an insulator and maintains a mean temperature of 55 to 60 degrees year round. This geothermal property saves thousands of dollars as well as preserving an abundance of fossil fuels.
In addition to these advantages, earth shelters can be built into the side of a mountain or other landscapes that would otherwise be unbuildable which in turn preserves valuable farm land.

Other advantages include:

1. Unparalleled structural integrity making them safe from hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, fire, earth quakes and other natural disasters
2. Better land usage (you can park on the roof)
3. A significant reduction in utilities and energy costs
4. Energy savings and tax incentives
5. Insect manifestation is a non issue due to impenetrable shell
6. Thieves are less likely to target these homes because of the single open wall
7. Pipes will not freeze
8. Exterior maintenance is almost nonexistent

The disadvantages are few. These homes are nontraditional and must be planned with extreme caution. A leak due to inproper waterproofing can be a costly fix. Removing tens of tons of earth from the roof can add up to thousands. Another disadvantage may be resale value. Due to the unconventional style, buyer might tend to shy away. lastly, until these homes become a little more mainstream, the initial construction costs are slightly higher than that of a conventional style home.

The long term energy savings and tax incentives far outweigh that initial expense. With the implementation of Wind and Solar Power Generators and the incorporation of geothermal heating and cooling, it is probable that the owners of underground homes will live ‘Off The Grid’ never having to pay a utility bill again. These are true green homes and are the representitive of sustainability.

Technorati Tags: earth sheltered homes, earth shelters, green building, sustainability

In desperate numbness, perhaps clutching crumpled utility bills, residents fight winter and its annual wrath of snow and ice.

Fueled by the often-freezing temperatures and rising costs to battle them, there are the home remedies — plastic sealant over windows — to help keep warm.

Isolating heat in one room or buying corn- and wood-pellet-fueled stoves are other methods creative homeowners turn to in an attempt to stay warm without accumulating a massive utility bill, said Bob Vogl, Illinois Renewable Energy Association president.

“They can be a good, relatively low-cost option for consumers to save money and help the environment at the same time,” said David Kolata, Citizens Utility Board executive director. “We’re getting more and more interest from customers. The fact that there’s an environmental component as well makes it sort of a win-win.”

Homeowners who installed the systems in 2008 are also eligible for a tax credit, thanks to a clause in the mortgage bailout bill. Taxpayers can get a credit for 30 percent of the cost of their geothermal systems, up to $2,000. Even without a tax incentive, experts say the geothermal systems are their own financial reward over time.

“Your yard is a bank,” said Denise Feliszak, who along with her husband Bob, created Tinley Park-based Air-Ease Geothermal Heating & Cooling. “You’re able to take your energy from your yard and bring it into your home.”

Shortly after the Feliszaks started up Air-Ease, a similar energy crisis in the early 1980s prompted some people, as a recession is doing now, to think about energy alternatives that might lower their heating costs. The Feliszaks installed their first system 20 years ago and experienced sporadic interest in geothermal heating systems in the years since — until now.

This year, the company has installed 12, its all-time high.

“There was a period of time we didn’t do any,” Feliszak said. “Now that everybody’s so concerned with how expensive it is, people are looking for alternatives.”

The Energy Department says Air-Ease’s recent spike in business is part of a trend. The agency, which tracks shipments of geothermal heat pumps, said more than 63,000 were shipped in 2006, compared with about 48,000 in 2005 and 44,000 the year before that.

The national Geothermal Heat Consortium estimates about 75,000 were installed this year. That’s part of a 10 percent to 15 percent increase the group has seen in the past three years. The consortium also said geothermal systems make up about 1 percent of the heating and cooling market. While the housing market has stalled, commercial installations continue to become more popular, according to the consortium.

For Mark and Denise Baker, a geothermal system was just one part of the building of the their “dream home” near Joliet.

“From what we learned, our bill should be about a quarter to a third of what it would be to heat that house conventionally,” Mark Baker said. “We don’t want to be paying outrageous fuel prices in the future.”

The geothermal system works because underground water is always a constant 53 degrees, no matter the season — freezing or frying — said Bob Feliszak, who is heading up the installation of the Bakers’ home.

The water travels through underground tubing into the home, where it goes into a compressor, which sends water to a tank that heats it to about 120 degrees for wintertime.

Hot water can be sent through tubing snaked through the various floors in the home, called radiant heat, or air warmed by the hot water is sent up through ducts in a home, like a forced-air heating system.

The system is renewable, continually reusing groundwater in and out of the home, and it also uses a small amount of electricity in comparison with traditional furnaces.

While the Bakers are jumping onto the trend, Craig Detjen can be considered a geothermal pioneer. His first system was installed nearly 25 years ago in his Beecher home.

“I wasn’t with the times, definitely; I wanted to try something different and newer,” he said.

Three years ago, Air-Ease installed an updated system in his home for $5,000 to add newer and better technology since his first venture.

Detjen estimates he’s saving one-third of his previous bill, which provided for savings already, and that it will pay for itself in savings in five years.

The system, he said, will last about 20 years, and a permanent filter he had installed allows him to skip buying new filters in exchange for rinsing it out every now and again with a hose.

Price and knowledge of the subject are largely what stand in the way. Many of the installations done by Air-Ease are for architects and engineers.

Detjen’s system was on the low end of the geothermal price tag scale that generally starts at about $15,000. Much of the cost is in digging wells outside a home, and Detjen had already dug his own pond from which water is run in and out of the home. The Bakers’ system cost $95,000, but they also added extra features, such as the radiant heat through the home’s flooring.

“It is new and it is expensive,” Denise Feliszak said. “As more and more people demand this type of system, we’re hoping it will bring the cost down.”

But they pay for themselves in a fairly short amount of time, the Feliszaks estimate six years, and save about half of what homeowners pay for heating and cooling now.

“I believe it’s the way of the future. I did back then, and I still do,” Detjen said. “It wasn’t that efficient back then, but they’ve improved the technology and efficiency so they’re worthwhile. I’m hoping that everyone jumps on the bandwagon.”

Technorati Tags: Energy, geothermal, heat exchange, underground

As a homeowner, you may be using renewable energy sources. Let’s look at a few of these important, powerful sources.

If you use solar powered lights to brighten your walkway, a solar cover on your swimming pool or hang your clothes out to dry, you are already making use of the sun’s renewable energy. There are many other renewable energy home options you can take advantage of, and by doing so, help preserve our environment.

The most practical of renewable energy options for the home consist of space heating and domestic hot water. This is over 50% of a household’s energy usage. In using renewable energy we can experience cost saving benefits.

Perhaps the best way to take advantage of renewable energy home options is when designing a new house. A southern wall taking advantage of an appropriate amount of windows can take full use of the low sun in the winter. Adding a roof overhang over these windows allow the higher summer sun to be blocked. Also, on a cool day you can open your windows to let a breeze cool off the house and make use of wind energy. You have achieved adding heat in the winter and coolness in the summer, thereby lowering your heating and cooling costs naturally. This is called passive solar heating since it is integrated with no extra costs. You can also do day lighting by taking full advantage of the sunlight during the day to take care of your daytime lighting needs.

Wood stoves can also be advantageous, if using only dead wood, diseased wood or small pellets made from wood chips, crop waste and other organic material for burning. This is a renewable source of heat through the use of space heating. Modern wood burning stoves are highly efficient, making it a more practical option.

A homeowner can also utilize active solar heating. A solar water heater can use renewable solar energy to heat water for a house. This would use solar collector panels placed on a roof. Water runs through pipes under these panels and is heated by the sun. The water travels to a water tank in your home for your use. Electricity can also be produced for a home using the photovoltaic technology. This runs on the same idea as a solar calculator. Solar electricity is ideal for rural homes where it would be difficult to run an electric line to.

Geothermal heat pumps use the heat from the Earth to move heat from one area to another. This system uses a series of underground pipes to move a heat exchange fluid. The heat pump moves this fluid, heated from the earth and transfers it to buildings for use. Initial installation costs are much the same as traditional heating systems, but operational costs are lower.

If you live in a windy part of the country and have quite a bit of land, wind can power a wind turbine to produce electricity for your household. But your location must be ideal to catch wind and you must be able to capture a certain amount for this to work.

These are some home options for renewable energy sources. By trying to utilize some of them we are preparing for our future by using clean energy that does not affect air quality or harm the environment.

What are “Earth Homes?” Earth homes are houses that are
basically constructed from the earth. Some earth homes are built
from adobe, mud, straw or even underground as an earth-sheltered
home. Environmentally friendly, earth homes are easy to warm and
cool and extremely energy efficient.

Adobe Earth homes are houses constructed from bricks comprised
of tightly compacted earth, clay and straw. Adobe earth homes
can be naturally waterproofed by using fermented cactus juice!

Earth sheltered earth homes are houses the are constructed
underground - or at least mostly beneath the ground surface.
Surrounding soil is a superp and nautral insulation which makes
these homes cheap to heat and cool. Usually installed in a
well-drained hillside, earth sheltered homes have a skylight
window that can fill the home with natural sunlight. Although
costs may run a bit higher than conventional home construction,
earth sheltered homes are a good, long-term investment as
lowered maintenance and energy savings make up the difference.

Straw Bale earth homes are making a comeback as well. Straw bale
earth homes are obviously constructed of straw and grass, are
energy efficient, and can cut material building costs by as much
as fifty percent.

Earth homes, such as Cob Houses are built from clay-type lumps
of soil, sand and straw. Similar to the adobe homes, except cob
earth homes do not use bricks or blocks. Cob homes have walls
that are sculpted into smooth forms. Again, very energy
efficient, cob homes are well-suited for the very cold climates
and deserts.

Rammed earth homes may have over 18-inch, thick walls that are
made from a comcination of dirt, sand, cement and water. Energy
conservative, rammed earth homes have the appearance of
bungalow-style charm and help keep the house warm in winter and
cool in the summer. Additionally, rammed earth homes may last
hundreds of years.

Why build an earth home? Earth homes conserve energy, and in
most cases are easier to maintain and can endure for years to
come. An excellent site to visit on earth homes:
www.hobbithomes.ca This particular site even has a recipe for
building your own “cob” earth home, as well as other projects.

As we embark on a strange, new age and global warming
continuously on the rise, doesn’t it make sense to construct
your new custom home as an earth home?

©2004 - All Rights Reserved Environmentally-Friendly Earth Homes
C. Bailey-Lloyd / Lady Camelot

About the Author: C. Bailey-Lloyd/LadyCamelot is the
Public Relations Director & Writer for Holistic
Junction — Your source of information for Holistic
Practitioners; Naturopathic Schools, Massage Therapy Schools, and Reflexology
Schools; Alternative Healthcare; Insightful Literature and so
much more!

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